


A Correspondence

by Iwantthatcoat



Category: Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms, Sherlock Holmes - Arthur Conan Doyle
Genre: Epistolary, M/M, Period-Typical Homophobia, Sappy brotherly love stuff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-02
Updated: 2020-09-06
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:48:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 1,304
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26255917
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Iwantthatcoat/pseuds/Iwantthatcoat
Summary: A series of letters between both Holmeses and Watson
Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson
Comments: 22
Kudos: 41





	1. Chapter 1

My Dearest Brother,

I wish to offer you and Dr Watson my congratulations on your latest romantic adventure. There was, indeed, a time when I would have read such an account with a degree of contempt: a notion we may, at some point in our lives which grows ever more distant with each passing year, have shared. But they say with age comes a degree of wisdom. (As your senior by some seven years I can attest to the veracity of this aphorism.) 

There is yet another aphorism I wish to call to your careful attention. I, and in fact the whole of this great nation, owe our security to men like your Doctor Watson, as well as a debt of gratitude to his skill in wielding a sword on behalf of the Empire, but I am well aware that, in your view, it is eclipsed by how mighty his pen is. It is one you have long held. This view, perhaps somewhat unusual but no less valid, comes as no great surprise to one who has known of your nature from the start.

It has also been brought to my own careful attention, in light of some unfortunate events, that you might come to question my willingness to assist you in future endeavors. Let this letter, then— which I will admit has gone through sufficient drafting as fits one whose talents lie in numbers far more than letters in hopes of ensuring its lasting service as a keepsake— confirm that you have, as ever, my pledge of assistance in whatever form required, and, as family should never have to call into question (though far too often are made to do so), my love.

MH


	2. Chapter 2

My Dear Brother Mycroft,

My partner wishes me to begin my reply by advising you that your letter has been the subject of much amusement within our household. It seems your ability to balance the sacred— for indeed we have undertaken, as you have deduced, our own version of a sacrament— with the profane is unparalleled. As I am the one with command of the...pen...at present, I will ask that you delay basking in your humour for just a moment more whilst I arrange my narrative in order of importance. 

First, I must thank you. Not simply for the sentiment expressed, though that is certainly most appreciated, but for not following through on what I believe was your initial inclination—to publish a more heavily-coded version of your letter within The Times’s agony column. 

I have no doubt that I would have found such a message with ease— as would have one or two of the more clever and literate members of my Irregulars, and possibly the very brightest of the Yarders— but it was indeed a risk unworthy of taking despite your rather pedestrian notion that such a step requires a public announcement of some sort. As I have no wish to call upon you to expand your sphere of influence in an attempt to protect my person, you have my gratitude for exercising due caution. 

In a similar vein, there is only so much of a blind eye which one can turn. Know, then, that it was this, rather than my inability to judge your character as worthy of my trust, which has led me to keep such information from you— in as much as anything could be successfully kept from your notice. 

I also will not find fault in your assessment of my previous lack of interest in such matters, as I offer to you my own version of a merging of the sacred and the profane, though, in truth, it is not a profanity: ‘For it is like a mustard seed, the smallest of all seeds on earth. Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds can perch within its shade.’

SH


	3. Chapter 3

Mr Mycroft Holmes,

I have been assured, in no uncertain terms, that this letter is entirely unnecessary; that I should not expect to receive warning that my conduct must remain above reproach, lest I find myself in something akin to permanent exile; indeed, that it is perhaps inappropriate that I should send this at all. Still, it is my desire to convey a far greater degree of respect than I have hereto demonstrated during our all-too-brief acquaintance. My dear Holmes has also informed me that he is, in your eyes, no delicate blossom in need of protection courtesy of thinly-veiled threats (though he did chuckle and say that, if such threats were to be made, they would not be idle ones).

It is of little consequence to me whether they are idle or not. 

Your brother has my heart.

It is a simple statement, which speaks to a greater truth. 

My own brother had no abundance of concern for my well-being, be it in matters of love or of any other subject, so perhaps that is why I have been remiss in my attention to duty. I, therefore, beg your forgiveness and seek to honor your position, in as much as your younger brother might be considered your charge. I offer my apology for any slight I may have committed in following through with what likely seems, upon its surface, a hasty action. I wish to assure you that it was nothing of the kind, but instead the natural progression of our growing affection. 

My actions would be the same, blessing or no, but please do not think that having such is entirely without meaning to me.

Yours in Faith,   
John H. Watson, M.D.,   
Late of the Army Medical Department


	4. Chapter 4

_Found amongst reactants at 221B Baker Street_

Sherlock, I do believe I have frightened your Army Doctor. His signature line has spoken volumes. Am I truly such a force to be reckoned with?


	5. Chapter 5

_Found in the Transactions of the Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion periodical in the Diogenes Club_

Do consider sending John an intimidating letter. I am told it is a fashionable way in which to express one’s concern.  
S


	6. Chapter 6

SHERLOCK STOP I SHALL NOT ENGAGE IN UNNECESSARY THEATRICS STOP I HAVE WORK ABROAD STOP DEVISE YOUR OWN THREATS IF NEED BE STOP   
-M


	7. Chapter 7

My Dear Sir,

Sherlock is my junior and, as befits the situation, matters of our estate and other petty family concerns fall to me. That is the full extent of my role in loco parentis. I am not in possession of his hand to impart to you, and whilst I am assuredly a man of strong traditions, they do not extend so far as this. 

Concerning your letter, I find no discourtesy in your actions to date. I can picture the smirk upon Sherlock’s face, knowing its content. In truth, Sherlock’s only need for tradition lies in his having something against which to rail. Though he will simply find it amusing, please know that I am indeed touched by the gesture, as I am also touched by his refusal to have tampered with this or to have disposed of it altogether.   
That he should choose to spend his life with a man was foreseeable; that he should choose to spend it with one in possession of honour, surprising. Please do not think this means I find my brother dishonourable in any sense...simply unconventional in the extreme. 

Your partnership has endured, and that it should continue to do so is my fervent wish. Truly, I cannot see one of you thriving without the other by his side. A symbolic acknowledgement of this fact is more appropriate than any of the pomp to which I am a near-daily witness. It was already inevitable. Whether you have met my own standards of approval or not (though you have) is inconsequential.

Yours in Deepest Regard,  
Mycroft Holmes


End file.
